First Iwagumi Attempt

Decided to try my hand at Iwagumi (first try at planted tank too!). Twist, I am trying to do a semi-low cost (but quality), high tech tank by making and/or finding as much stuff as possible, so I'll be keeping track of cost as well.

5/4/13: Got a 10 gallon at the Petco $1/gal sale and derimmed the top. Found some cool rocks for free by the river. Got a bag of MGOCPM.

5/11: Bought 3 pots of HC Cuba and divided it up and planted. I am going to go with DSM on this tank.

Light is a single 23W 5500K CFL vertical in a 6.5" IKEA lamp, mounted 14" above substrate. 12 hours burn period on a timer. Too much light, too little? I might go with 2 lights later for a more even spread.

I'm new at this. What does MGOCPM stand for? I would love to see how cheaply I can do these sorts of tanks as well, so I will be following this thread closely. Thanks for the updates.

Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix. You can search for it on this forum. I would advise you to take the time to pick out or sift out all the larger particles like wood chips. I got lazy and didn't do it, and kind of regret it now. Hopefully my sand cap will be enough to hold the floaties down.

In terms of cost, I want to do it for cheap, but I still want quality, so I save when I could and spend when I should. The MGOCPM is a much better saving if you are doing a big tank (40+). I paid $10 for a huge bag and only used about 1/6 of it if that. Still cheaper than ADA Amazonia, but savings would've been exponential if I had a bigger tank.

Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix. You can search for it on this forum. I would advise you to take the time to pick out or sift out all the larger particles like wood chips. I got lazy and didn't do it, and kind of regret it now. Hopefully my sand cap will be enough to hold the floaties down.

In terms of cost, I want to do it for cheap, but I still want quality, so I save when I could and spend when I should. The MGOCPM is a much better saving if you are doing a big tank (40+). I paid $10 for a huge bag and only used about 1/6 of it if that. Still cheaper than ADA Amazonia, but savings would've been exponential if I had a bigger tank.

Thanks for the response. I am working my way through my first planted tank. I am just using the Flora Substrate from the store because I figured it was easier, plus since I am keeping it at school and using it in my science classes, my school is going to pay the expenses for it. I am still trying to keep the cost down, but it is not as important right now.

Common mistakes: sealing the tank up too much, it's better that it's not 100% humid, leave some opening, just enough to get a little condensation.
I can grow HC outside in full sun in California's dry weather if I water daily. I have had it growing on my bonsai. Freezing temps kill it though.

Poor CO2 is the most common killer once people flood their tanks, the DSM avoids the CO2 issue, so any one should be able to grow a nice lawn in while dry, but the DSM saves NONE if they cannot grow HC well submersed, which are quite a few folks.
I'm not one of them.

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